Bush Campaign Manager Views the Electoral Divide -new tactics to id voters

snip>
This very bottom-line characterization by Mr. Mehlman, who is in line to become the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, came in the midst of a report on the Bush campaign that was at times boastful and at times revealing, as he described unusual methods that he said accounted for much of Mr. Bush's 3.5-million-vote margin of victory over Senator John Kerry.

For example, Mr. Mehlman, in discussing a get-out-the-vote operation that surprised Democrats in many parts of the country on Election Day, said the Republicans had moved away from traditional operations, adopting the tactics of corporate America to identify potential Bush supporters.

Rather than dispatching troops to knock on doors in neighborhoods known to be heavily Republican, Mr. Mehlman said, the Bush campaign studied consumer habits in trying to predict whom people would vote for in a presidential election.

"We did what Visa did," Mr. Mehlman said. "We acquired a lot of consumer data. What magazine do you subscribe to? Do you own a gun? How often do the folks go to church? Where do you send your kids to school? Are you married?

"Based on that, we were able to develop an exact kind of consumer model that corporate America does every day to predict how people vote - not based on where they live but how they live," he said. "That was critically important to our success."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/19/politics/19repubs.html?oref=login&oref=login

Great work Ken! Very patriotic!

I am positive that is where they, the repukes, got my name. There would be no other information that would align me with that kind of thinking. I don't hunt or fish, and I don't subscribe to any magazines or newspapaers. Gives me flexibility on what I read.

We know, on some level, that the ads are aimed at voters as "consumers" but to have been treated that way all along, to have been divided by the repubs before things even started, doesn't really serve the idea of an informed electorate.

Autonomy Corporation and software like their's are behind this. They know more about you than you can begin to believe.

GO TO AUTONOMY DOT COM

It is all about sifting unstructured data.

All the worlds spy agencies have the software.
All the fortune five hundred have the software.

The republicans use the software.

THEY HAVE DATA SETS THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN GET

THINK TOTAL INFORMATION SYSTEM.

Google Bayesian Theorem. The sofware is based on this type of mathematics. I have worked with this type program.

These pgrorams can find KERNELS or in terms of people COHORTS that can be discerned in no other way.

Simply stated, THEY CAN FIND WHO THEY WANT AND HOW TO SWAY THEM.

I have been afraid of this power since I first used it.

All other fears fall into the background.

DU has a group focused on conscious consuming.

The people in charge have control of us through our money. Their system begins and ends with money. Money is what they worship. Their "moral values" are money, money, money.

The corporations convince us all that we have to consume in order to be successful and happy. It's patriotic to consume, we are told, because it "drives the economy."

We CAN put down the kool-aid. We can consume far less. Humans have lived for thousands of years without any of the things that fill the typical American home.

Yes, and it's the real reason why they are moving to "privatize" social security. If one's own best interests and retirement is dependent upon big business and the stock market doing well, one will be inclined to vote to free the corporations of all taxes, restrictions, and democratic responsibility. It will pave the way -- they're counting on it. Social Security is also a big Democratic wedge that they're planning to eliminate for even greater demographic control.

Unlocking and harnessing the massive power of mathematics. The first ones were used to get artillery shells to hit their targets more often, and break encryption algorithms previously thought to be unbreakable. They can be used for both good and evil.

Oh, you all thought they were for cruising message boards and playing Halo.

I agree with you. I would love to see those creeps punished- but since the locals around here support people burning down abortion clinics, I doubt any thing will be done.

I kept wondering why they were sending me mail when I'm a registered Democrat.

but I've never voted for one of those assholes in my life and never will.

So I get their shit in the mail. Used to piss me off, but now I keep files for the different republicans and call them my "shit lists" and have information on them going pretty far back. It's a nice little organized system. I used some old mailers to help some Dem candidates this last go-round. Keep the stuff!

Stop popping viagra, and they'll think you're a democrat

at money and seeing how they can steal from the less fortunate.

My son got them too and I couldn't figure out why. The only thing different about him was a subscription to Sports Illustrated. Are they buying magazine mailing lists too?

got invited to a private dinner with Laura Bush at a neighbor's house.

Dh and I have been registered Dems forever.

It cost more than $10k to attend.

I had better things to spend the money on.

child to private school, own a gun, then you like those guys, or so they would think. It seems you fall into their consumer category, but you use your mind, think independently and don't accept everything that our leadership feeds you! Damn you, you moral dem, you break the pattern (sarcasm)

I spent two days knocking on doors down in Virginia, and it didn't seem all that productive. It's what's been used up to now, but if there are better ways to GOTV, the Democrats need to step up next election.

This all sounds possible. Time to get crackin'.

Looks like the repubs had good tactics and it worked. Memo to McAwful and Schrum --- get off your asses and figure out how to win an election.

IDing methods of advertising is one thing- radio ads and appearences on stations that are broadcast in languages other than Englis is one example.

Targeting the potential voter as a mark is different. It's like shaping the candidate to a poll before the poll has even been taken- before the questions have even been decided upon.

He said, "I don't like what I'm seeing. I didn't think Bush was really like this."

I said, "Get used to it. This is who he really was all along, they just managed to distract you from it. You fell for the marketing."

He regrets voting for him. I said, "I don't want to hear it. I told you so for months."

We may despise the Repubs (OK, most of us do!) but this is a smart idea and our side should adopt it, IMO.

They also have great message discipline, all their surrogates have the same message every day during a campaign. Our surrogates don't know what the message is, or even if there is one. The Repubs suck at governing, but I think they are a lot better at politics than we are, even if you leave out their most effective techniques of voter suppression and vote fraud. Those we can do without, but the legal and ethical ones are things we need to emulate.

this article just sounds like so much bullshit.

If this tactic was so successful, why did they have to resort to:

1. Using GOP Companies who threw out Democratic Registrants
2. Challenging new Deomcratic Registrants when they went to vote
3. Not providing enough voting machines
4. Using paperless electronic voting machines that are easily hackable
5. Changing poll places at the last minute
6. Etc.


As well as,

1. Spewing lies out of tv, radio and newspapers to sell a defective product like Neo-Conservatism and Bush.


Seems to me the GOP & Mehlman are trying to invent some magic bullet that explains their fraudulent "success".

THEY LOST! They had to resort to massive scale vote supression and e-voting.

It isn't who we are anymore, it's what we consume.

Can we get a slogan out of that? I hate being reduced to a mathematical probability.

Nothing like ex CEO's running it.

They had volunteers submit the roster from conservative churches to put on mailing lists. I've been a registered Democrat since 1998 (was independent before). I contributed to Kerry's campaign. I was a member of a Southern Baptist congregation. Right after the news report regarding how they collected addresses from churches came out, I started recieving a barrage of Repug fliers regarding abortion and homosexuals. I'm positive, someone at my former church sent our addresses in. I am now exploring other denominations.

http://www.blogactive.com/2004/11/editor-of-washington-blade-puts.html

And don't forget his sidekick, Dan Gurley

http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=428

I call him "Rondo" Mehlman.

He is friggin' hideous. He always looks so evil. Evil to the core. Never smiles, and when he does it makes you cringe. I despise the man.

being sold a presidential candidate like they market coca-cola
and Viagra.

charming. while the local newspapers/TV stations never do ANY
in-depth reporting on what is going on locally or nationally.

what do we get, very ignorant people being sold "toxic chemical" politics
with psychological warfare techniques...

Maybe we can sue them for truth in advertising and releasing
a product that is detrimental to the social good.

They identified likely Bush voters, and then did all they could do make sure Bush non-voters would have a darn difficult time to be able to vote.

those things don't correlate well to voting at the top of the ticket. Furthermore, in a year when a lot of people are going to vote for the first time, you're going to have to find other ways to reach them.

Looks like the Republicans were about three steps ahead of Democrats in figuring out ways to get people to vote for them who wouldn't be captured by party reg/vote history.

Voter Suppression etc.?

Why did they have companies signing up new Democrats and then throwing those names in the garbage.

I can't believe people are falling for this nonsense.

It didn't work, cause if it really did, the GOP wouldn't NEED Fraud to win.

now it's our task to expose that product as defective.

of the many things that must be done to increase our chances. Its going to take alot of extra and hard work with very little to show for it, at least at first.

and make things happen if we want a democracy! Things I think we need to start doing immediately:

1) Get the attention of the DNC so that they start speaking for us, not yammering some jibberish that they think is going to attract a "swing" constituency

2) Dump the DNC if they DON'T start listening and behaving effectively (haven't seen any reason to think they are yet)

3) Take the corporations that pay for our government to task for the "product" (gov't) they deliver ------- BOYCOTT!!

4) Start looking for and promoting leaders who can speak and think clearly, who can be honest AND strong...

5) Start using smart marketing folks to help put our campaigns together. Get rid of McAuliffe and Schrum and anyone else who looks, acts or sounds like them. These guys don't have a friggin' clue IMHO.

6) Work behind the scenes (activist style) to ensure that we do start to get
- accuracy in advertising applied to political ads...their boasting about successful strategy just may have made that easier!
- national voting standards, with transparency and accountability at every level for national elections

7) Continue to support and find ways to increase the credibility of independent media...

I'm sure the list needs more, but we really do need to start DOING something. We all spent too much effort, time and hard-to-spare cash in support of a failed strategy. Much as I supported Kerry and the Democrats, I also winced as I watched them commit blunder upon error upon gaffe.

So who's organizing what? Where do we "meet up" to discuss our strategies?

I'm kind of new here so this might be something you're already doing --- point us newbies in the right direction so we can start to have an impact too. Two years from now is too long to wait before taking action!

sojourner --

you are fighting a losing battle. The repubs are a
well oiled machine and they will quash your efforts.
When they let you in on their secrets, it is only because
thay are trying to trick you into doing something. Then
they laugh at you. Rove and the gang are a step ahead of
dems, always. Too much selfishness in the party. You cant
beat em and you cant join em either. The party is now
full of brainwashed dems who get their feedings from slyfox.
Once people get hit directly in the pocket, they will see the
light, but by then, the pocket is empty.

Lazy dumb morons are empowering dubbs to play us all.

We did super-duper smart things this time that nobody ever thought of before - yeah...that will convince the rubes.

I think that I did something to mess things up - when I re-did my monthly donation!

you think anybody worth respecting would hold you to account for someone else's actions simply because you live in the same state?

If they send you a piece of direct mail and it is returned to them, they can use that to challenge your voter registration. So, if they have your address wrong, or you just leave it in the mailbox (in which case the mailman will eventually pick it up), or explicitly return it to them, your registration might be suspect.

no ego or superego voters were mentioned anywhere in this.

blatant freud-lining, if you ask me.

But sadly that IS where marketing is aimed, isn't it.

Who is selling us out and giving this information about this country's citizens? If this "list" can be bought by one group, it can be bought by another. I would worry about terrorists getting this information, quite frankly.

UNLESS these people did telephone polls, they can get that kind of information from no one other than those people and businesses that the American people do business with.

imo ~ this is a privacy violation issue which doesn't seem to be a right and a priority in America anymore nor is this form of citizen profiling being addressed by our elected officials as a grave concern ...


Who is selling us out and giving this information about this country's citizens?

I would suggest that Acxiom http://www.acxiom.com/, where Wes Clark once served on the Board of Directors, is a possible culprit ... ChoicePoint, which had handled Florida's voter data base in 2000, may be another. Stores, like grocers, which use 'discount' cards at checkout, collect data which is likely sold to corporate clearinghouses of this personal data.

It wouldn't be surprising to find The Carlyle Group's company USIS http://www.usis.com , which uses a different angle, collecting data for employer hiring screening, to be involved in trafficking personal data as well. To 'acquire' information from Carlyle would benefit Poppy Bush and James Baker, since they were at the forefront in founding that private equity firm ... how convenient would that be?

Latin America hasn't been quiet on such matters, nor on the need for a data protection law.

"U.S. data mining riles Latin America"

~snip~

"... ChoicePoint destroyed part of its Mexico database after Mexican officials alleged that it included information from the government's national voting registry, which would be illegal.

According to Mexican officials and media reports, ChoicePoint purchased the information for $250,000 in 2001 from a consumer information company called Bases de Datos, which was marketing it as part of a database called Guide to Potential Sellers and Buyers in the Mexican Republic."

~snip~

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4973.htm

"Vendor sells Latin American citizen data to U.S."

~snip~

The revelations helped kindle privacy movements in at least six countries where the company operates. Government officials have ordered — or threatened — inquiries into the data sales, saying ChoicePoint and the U.S. government violated national sovereignty.

"The federal registry is Mexican patrimony. For a fistful of dollars this information goes to the United States?" asked Julio Tellez Valdes, a law professor and data protection expert at the Monterrey Technical Institute in Mexico. "Millions of Mexicans are now conscious about the necessity of a data protection law."

~snip~

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2003-09-01-choicepoint_x.htm

I have worked with Bayesian based software.

I FEAR the power of this data sifting technology.

Terrorism - Terror And How Derek V. Smith Can Stop It

Xposed, May 2004
By
BRIAN BERGSTEIN

NEW YORK - Derek V. Smith sees bad people lurking everywhere: terrorists, sexual predators, quack doctors, identity thieves. And yet Smith colors himself an optimist, insisting that society can protect itself from such dicey characters, using information as a shield.


In Smith's view, if we did more to examine each other's digital footprints _ addresses, employment records, credit data, lawsuits, criminal files, professional licenses, vehicle registrations _ the world would be safer.

Not surprisingly, Smith can supply much of that information _ he heads ChoicePoint Inc., a leading electronic data warehouse regularly mined by companies and the government. ChoicePoint does 8 million background checks a year, serving more than half of the Fortune 500.

Database aggregators like ChoicePoint have quietly become powerful arbiters, whirring in the background when people seek jobs, get on airplanes, apply for insurance, commit a crime or fall victim to one. ChoicePoint's computers are packed with 19 billion public records.

http://www.xposed.com/gadgets/terrorism_-_terror_and_how_derek_v_smith_can_stop_it.aspx

ChoicePoint is the same company Bev wants dug.

There was a long piece (Sun?)on how Wal-Mart ids its customers. -there was some very expensive system they used. It sounded very similar.

I wonder if the airline TIA data was used.

Sounds like they're using it to discover more than terrorists.

I am truly afraid.

Bush's campaign knew how to find their demo and get them out of the house.

brush your teeth?

I guess the president can't be prosecuted for such a thing.

but kept quiet about it.

Other things they did was organize volunteers, & organize them like they do their donors: The Pioneers, etc. They form it like the military, from the top down, with a General running things. I read they spent very little on registrations & get-out-the-vote...it was all volunteers. And Rove knew each General in each district on a first name basis, & visited on the ground with all these people all over the country.

And remember the rallies Bush had, with smaller crowds than Kerry? Well, all the attendees were volunteers, & right from the rally, they would go to work on specific tasks.

I heard they had a list of EVERY first time voter; a Dem said her son was contacted.

And yes, they got church lists, & organized to get those groups to the polls.

They out-organized, out-strategized, & out-worked the Dems, & did it quietly.

their mantra.

And how did they come upon all this data? Oh yeah, the "Un-" Patriot Act. That piece of mess let's * have any information on anyone in the country he wants. Sounds to me like another example of using the so-called "war of terror" as a campaign strategy. They were most likely gathering and using that information illegally - but who is going to go after them - Tom DeLay?

Bottom line. Until this neo con tsunami splashes into your living
room, it will just continue. The weak minded middle class that keep voting for this abuse will allow themselves to be parsed and
spun around by these peeps until they get drafted or end up losing a
job to an Indian startup. The debt wont matter to them until
they have no job or find their payroll tax doubled or something.
Until it actually hits home, its more of the same.

By then the damage will be hard to fix. We are in for at least
two more terms of the neo con stuff, methinks. Get used to and by it.

Makes sense, need that data. Next they'll use it to determine who to "disappear" and intern.

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for someone to make me sicker than Ed Gillepsie.

Are they enough rocks in the world for them to find these people under? :puke:

As I recently said to someone...the republicans aren't stealing elections with "black boxes", they are winning elections with "black boxes"

As usual, the relevance of this information is being dismissed by most as repuke propaganda or is being shouted down with "fraud"....

The repukes will only get better and better at this.